A report of a potential weapon on the Penn Yan Academy campus sent the entire Penn Yan Central School District into lockdown Thursday, with students sheltered in place before high schoolers were dismissed early and middle and elementary classes resumed later in the day. Officials said searches of all three district buildings turned up no active threat, but the scare rippled outward, prompting lockdown or lockout status at three additional area schools and echoing a similar incident at another New York district the same morning.
Report Came In Just Before Noon
The alarm began around 11:30 a.m. Thursday, when a report of a potential weapon on the high school campus came in from district staff, according to fltimes.com. Penn Yan Academy went into immediate lockdown, and the district's middle and elementary schools followed shortly after as a precaution, per a report from 13WHAM. Newport Dispatch reported that multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the reports of a potential threat involving the district's high school.
The lockdown quickly extended beyond the district's own buildings. Dundee Central School, Saint Michael School and Emmanuel Baptist Academy in Penn Yan also went into lockdown or lockout status while the investigation unfolded, the station's report noted. Law enforcement personnel conducted systematic searches of all three Penn Yan school buildings, with K-9 teams and school staff assisting in the effort, according to the seed reporting from Newport Dispatch.
No Active Threat Found, Officials Say
Yates County authorities said the searches turned up nothing to substantiate the initial report. There is no credible threat within the schools or to the students, staff or public, officials said, per the same fltimes.com account. WHEC reported that law enforcement searched all three school buildings and determined there was no active threat, after which all schools were released from lockdown and lockout status.
Undersheriff Brandon Jensen of the Yates County Sheriff's Office said no credible threat was found and that the investigation into the source of the report was ongoing, 13WHAM reported. The Penn Yan Police Department is working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to assist with that investigation, according to Newport Dispatch.
Early Dismissal and Pickup at the Elementary Gym
Penn Yan Academy classes were canceled for the remainder of the day, while middle and elementary school classes resumed and all after-school and evening activities were called off, per the 13WHAM report. High school students were escorted to the Penn Yan Elementary Gymnasium for pickup or transportation home, according to a report carried by Yahoo News. Parents of students were advised of pickup locations for their children, Newport Dispatch reported.
The Penn Yan Central School District posted an end-of-day follow-up addressing the incident on its news page Thursday.
District Calls It a Swatting Call, Points to Other Schools
District officials characterized Thursday's scare as a swatting call and said it was not an isolated incident, according to the WHEC report. Similar calls had recently been reported at Indian Lake Central School and Lowville Academy and Central School, the district said, per that same account. Newport Dispatch reported that officials confirmed a similar incident was reported at another New York district at the same time Thursday.
A page from the New York State Police referenced a response to Indian Lake Central School around 11:05 a.m. Thursday, noting that school officials there were establishing a reunification process and notifying parents of the incident. The source and motive behind Thursday's report in Penn Yan remain under investigation.
